"Yes, but what have I got in return?" asked Lars.
"Nothing," said the Duke; "but, bless me, what could I have given you, who are not of flesh and blood, and whom I cannot see either?" he said. "But if there is anything I can do for you, tell me what it is, and I shall do it."
"Well, I should like to ask you for that little scrap of paper which you found in the chest," said Lars.
"Nothing else?" said the Duke. "If such a trifle can help you, I can easily do without it, for now I begin to know the words by heart," he said.
Lars thanked the Duke, and asked him to put the paper on the chair in front of the bed when he retired to rest, and he would be sure to fetch it during the night.
The Duke did as he was told; and so he and the Princess lay down and went to sleep.
But early in the morning the Duke awoke and felt so cold that his teeth chattered, and when he had got his eyes quite open he found he was quite naked and had not even as much as a thread on his back; and instead of the grand bed and the beautiful bedroom, and the magnificent palace, he lay on the big chest in the old tumble-down hut.
He began to shout:
"Lars, my lad!" But he got no answer. He shouted once more:
"Lars, my lad!" But he got no answer this time either. So he shouted all he could: